In an extraordinary league of photographers

Meet Prabhakar Kusuma, the only Indian photographer to be conferred the Fellow of The Royal Photographic Society this year

A photograph of lambadi women by Kusuma Prabhakar

Prabhakar Kusuma, 66, doesn’t believe in periodically posting +his photographs on social media for instant gratification. He prefers the old school approach of working quietly, stoically and letting his work speak for itself. When we meet him at his residence in Begumpet, he brims with pride and shows us the certificate that comes as an endorsement of his four-decade career in photography.

He is one among the four Fellows of The Royal Photographic Society (FRPS), Great Britain, 2018, worldwide. He’s the only one from India this year; the last time a photographer from the Telugu-speaking states was conferred this honour was 31 years ago — the late veteran photographer Rajan Babu was similarly honoured in 1987.

A photograph by Kusuma Prabhakar, inside a destitute home in Warangal, shot 25 years ago

The set of 20 photographs that fetched him this rare honour dates back to 25 years. In his native town Warangal, on his birthday in 1993, when Prabhakar was going through a rough phase in life, at the insistence of a friend he visited a destitute home. The home welcomed him but requested him to not use his camera. He sat in their midst, watched them through the day and was moved. “I thought I was going through a troublesome phase, my worries seemed nothing in comparison to theirs,” he remembers. He returned the next day, with his camera, but refrained from clicking. Then, the caretaker of the home encouraged him to take photographs since she felt the inmates were comfortable in his presence.

Tones of isolation

For eight months, Prabhakar frequented the home and took candid photographs. The black and white images narrate intimate stories of the people who’ve been ostracised from their families and society at large. “I have always used small cameras and lenses; the equipment shouldn’t intimidate the subjects. In this case, I used deeper tones to bring out their strong sense of isolation and dejection,” says Prabhakar.

Roll of honour

• 2018: Fellow of The Royal Photographic Society, Great Britain (FRPS). Category: Applied Photography (Documentary)
• 2017: Hon. PESGSPC for his Outstanding Contribution in International Art Photography, Cyprus
• 2016: Fellow of the United Photographers, Hong Kong (FUPHK)
• 1991: Artiste Federation Internationale de I’Art Photographique, Belgium (AFIAP)
• 1984: Associate of The Royal Photographic Society (ARPS)
• Why is FRPS a big deal? Because it works on merit and goes through a rigorous three-level selection. In 2018, only four photographers worldwide have been enrolled as Fellows.

These photographs were shot using film rolls that were three years beyond expiry date. Prabhakar couldn’t afford new 35mm films which were priced around ₹200, and chanced upon expired Nova Pan 400ASA 35mm films at ₹5 per roll. He bought eight of them and later added an ILFORD Pan 400ASA 35mm to the collection and carefully planned 300 exposures. Unlike digital photography, shooting on film called for planning and precision.

Kusuma Prabhakar

It was tricky to use films beyond expiry dates but he had the knack of handling them. He pushed the settings to 1600ASA and occasionally 3200ASA to shoot in low light. The darkness and the grainy texture added to the pathos of the inmates’ stories. Prabhakar developed these images on his own; a dark room secret he reveals is, “with certain technical adjustments, you can develop images at room temperature, as opposed to the norm of 20degrees Celsius, to get stunning results.”

Prabhakar moved to Hyderabad in 1995 and began working for the advertising industry, among several other assignments. Advertising photography was bread and butter, but his heart was in people-oriented real-life photography. He travelled extensively shooting lambada tribes for years and scoured the length and breadth of the country on several assignments. Among the several noteworthy assignments, he was requested to take photographs on various topics in India for the picture library (Compix) of the Commonwealth Institute in London.

Life took over and he got busy with professional and personal commitments.

A shot at fame

A year ago he decided to scan the photographs shot at the destitute home and submit them for the enrolment of Fellow of the Royal Photographic Society. “They don’t ask for technical specifications. They aren’t concerned about the constraints with which the photographs were shot. They look for an emotional connect and a common thread that binds the images,” he explains.

Prabhakar remembers his initial interest in photography, when as a student he was first introduced to dark room techniques and saw images come into view; it was magical. He knew what he wanted to do for a lifetime. He joined the Federation of Indian Photography in 1977 and started his journey. He believes “every artist should comment on society, either to show a problem or a solution.”